Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply (18 page)

She parted her lips for him, inviting him in, then stroked his tongue with hers. She felt his growing arousal pressed against her, and she cherished that she could do that to him. With her mate, she'd had to work extra hard to get him to this point. She'd begun to wonder if all male wolves were like that, because the humans she had dated never had an issue. Or maybe being a beta wolf, Harold had felt intimidated by her. And she felt bad about that.

“About the…birthday party,” Eric said, his words drenched with longing. “Do you think you could get me an invitation?”

She smiled up at him. “It's for five-year-old twins.”

“I like kids,” he said.

Her smile broadened. She knew he did. He'd shown it over and over in the way he treated them. “All right.”

“And we could have dinner after the party.”

“We're having hot dogs at the party.”

“Drinks then.”

Yeah, he wanted more with her. “I'll let Pauline, their mother, know to prepare for another adult to attend.”

“I'll be there. Or come here first, and then we can go over together. Whichever you prefer.”

“You can come here and we'll go over together.”

He kissed her one last time, his thumbs rubbing her face gently, his kiss just as hot, his body pressed just as close, and then he parted from her, his eyes darkened with desire. She imagined hers looked the same.

Certainly, their pheromones were stirring each other's up, and their hearts were beating as if they were in a wolf race all over again.

“Tomorrow night,” he promised, and then he got in his truck and took off.

She felt like she'd won the gold. What a way to start her day. What if she could always start it in such a way? If he was like this now, what would he be like if she tried the wine, candlelight, and hot tub on him? The sexy movies? The sexy nightwear? No nightwear? She saw the rise that had gotten out of him this morning.

She was definitely adding wine and candles to her grocery list.

Eric wished he hadn't agreed to take a double shift. He had done it in part to make up for another park ranger having taken his shift when he was injured, but now he really wished he could have stayed with Pepper tonight. She'd opened up to him, and, hell, he hadn't even really talked about himself yet. Would that change the way she felt about him?

He'd sure had a good time with her this morning: the run, the swim, and the way she had kissed him.

He sighed. When they got together after the birthday party, they'd talk.

After he arrived at the park, he was hiking to the first of the campsites he needed to check when he got a call.

“Sarandon?” Eric answered.

“One last chance, Brother. Did you need me to bring you another change of clothes?”

“Yeah, go ahead. I'll be staying at the park on a double shift.”

“Okay, you got it. What about tomorrow?”

Eric smiled. “I have a birthday party to attend, but I have the day off, so I'll be dropping by your place for a while, getting some sleep, then taking care of some other business.”

“Any trouble with Waldron?”

“No. He's playing it cool…or he's making plans for more trouble.”

“Watch yourself at the park.”

“Will do.”

“I'll be up on the mountain all day with the climbers, so if you need anything, just let me know, but I probably won't be able to get to it until this evening.”

“Thanks, Sarandon. I appreciate it.”

They ended the call, and when Eric arrived at the campsite, he was immediately called out on a rescue mission. A couple of fishermen had found a canoe resting in the rocks with no sign of the occupant. After hours of searching through the woods along the riverbank, Eric finally located the canoeist by using his wolf scenting ability. The man had a nasty gash on his forehead from where he'd hit his head on the rocks when his canoe flipped. He'd become disoriented and wandered off into the woods. Eric quickly called the other searchers to let them know he had located the canoeist. Eric told them about the man's condition while cleaning and bandaging the wound. Once medical personnel arrived and took care of the man, Eric returned to the campsite he needed to inspect.

Afterward, he made a trip back to one of the marijuana patches. He didn't believe anyone would be growing a new crop there now—it was too late in the season to start one—but he wanted to see if he'd find any evidence he'd missed before.

He was surprised to see that some of the seeds had sprouted late and a few stragglers were growing there. But because of it, Eric also found a new wolf scent. Just a hint, which made him wonder if the wolf was wearing hunter's spray and hadn't applied enough to cover his own scent. It was one of the same wolves he'd smelled before. The rogue wolves must have realized some late-blooming seeds might have sprouted.

As much as Eric wanted to confiscate the plants, he couldn't while he was working the job. Irritated to the max that wolves would be involved in the illegal venture, he called CJ. “Hey, I found ten more plants in Patch 5.”

“Got it. Be out there in a bit. Can you hang around to watch it in case the wolves return? Surreptitiously though?”

“I will for a while, but if I get an emergency call, I'll have to go.” Plus, Eric had jobs to do. He couldn't go missing for long without someone wondering where he'd disappeared to and worrying he was in trouble.

A flash of a tail whipped about in the brush several feet away. Hell. A gray wolf with a black-tipped tail. He must have believed Eric was a hiker who had found the plants, and the wolf thought he could scare him off. Until he smelled Eric's wolf scent and took off instead.

“See one. Shifting and taking chase.”

“Eric—”

Knowing his little brother was going to warn him to wait for backup, Eric turned off his cell, stripped, and hid his clothes in brush farther away from the plantings. If a wolf was snooping about though, he'd find Eric's clothes and gun and phone in a heartbeat. But this was only the second time they'd gotten this close to learning who the rogue wolves were. And Eric wasn't going to let this go. Even if it meant an ambush.

He shifted, his muscles warming with the change, his body turning from his human form to his wolf's in a flash, and then he tore after the wolf. Hunter's spray made the rogue wolf harder to follow, but he was leaving just enough of a scent for Eric to keep after him.

The wolf reached a creek filled with rapids and hesitated to cross. That hesitation was all Eric needed to reach him and tackle him. He wanted to injure the rogue wolf enough that he couldn't escape and could be taken into custody. But Eric would need his pack's help to do that.

What a mess it would be if he accidentally killed the rogue wolf, Eric thought as he lunged at the wolf. He hoped no one was in the area to witness the two wolves fighting or, worse, videotape it and share it with the world.

As soon as Eric tackled the wolf, he smelled the cannabis on him, probably from him moving around in the plants as a wolf. The wolf was a big gray that matched Eric in size and was just as ferocious when Eric attacked him. The wolf swung around and bit at Eric, his snout wrinkling as he bared his canines. Their teeth clashed as they stood on hind legs, both trying to get the best of the other. Both were snarling and growling. As soon as they dropped to the stony ground, Eric went for one of the wolf's hind legs. Eric was so quick, he managed to grab the leg and chomp down hard enough to break the bone.

Eric heard a crack, and the wolf howled in pain. Eric hoped to God none of the wolf's pack members were nearby to come to his rescue. Though he was prepared to fight every last one of them.

But what to do with the injured wolf now? If Eric shifted and any humans saw him, that would be a nightmare. Even if he shifted to carry the wolf out, he was certain the injured wolf wouldn't be docile. Eric would be fighting him every step of the way, trying to avoid his lethal teeth. And they were too far into the park for Eric to howl for any of his Silver pack members. Though he knew his last words had warned CJ that his oldest brother could be in the middle of a real mess. CJ would have contacted the sheriff and everyone by now to help Eric out. But they would still need an hour or more to arrive.

What about Sarandon? But then Eric remembered his brother was climbing on a mountain and wouldn't be able to just leave his charges and come to Eric's rescue.

Eric watched the wolf panting and sitting, his eyes narrowed and his whole expression filled with hatred. Not that Eric blamed him, but the wolves had to know they might get caught sooner or later.

He hoped he didn't get an emergency call when he wasn't monitoring his phone. He didn't want to put a visitor to the park at risk.

Hell. He snapped at the wolf to get him to move toward the woods.

The wolf snapped back at him and didn't budge. Eric knew the wolf could walk on three legs, but he also knew the wolf didn't want to be taken in. Eric thought briefly that the wolf might be all wolf, but he quickly dismissed the idea. A wolf would have run off on three legs, not remain there growling at him.

Eric bit him in the shoulder—not hard, but enough to get his attention and make him move.

This time the wolf stood without putting any weight on his broken hind leg and limped toward the woods. Since he hadn't howled, Eric assumed the rogue wolf was up here alone, maybe figuring no one would catch him if he wasn't running with a pack.

Eric snapped at him again, forcing the wolf to return to the marijuana patch. Though it had only taken them about fifteen minutes to run to the creek, it took them forty minutes to return to the plants.

Again, Eric hoped no humans were trying to follow them. He'd been listening intently enough to ensure no one was. The whole way back, he was sweating it out, praying he hadn't gotten a ranger call. Then in the woods near the open area where the patch was growing in full sun, Eric shifted. He was far enough away that he didn't think the wolf would try to attack him. Besides, he had his gun and he'd use it in a nonlethal way on the wolf if necessary.

Eric grabbed his phone. No one had called him about anything urgent, thank God. He got dressed, eyeing the wolf the whole time. Eric called to let the park staff know he'd been chasing a cougar away from a campsite and gave false coordinates about where he was, but close enough so that if he were needed, he could get to that location soon enough.

The wolf had lain down, as if his fate was already sealed and he could do nothing about it. Eric had half expected the wolf to fight him further. Eric would have, in his place. But since he was armed with a gun, he assumed the wolf figured things could get even worse if he tried to attack now.

Eric immediately updated CJ. “Got the wolf. He has a broken leg. I'm back at Site 5. How long before your ETA?”

“Fifteen minutes. We have a whole team of Silver pack members headed your way. A couple of them in wolf form should see you in just a few minutes and can provide backup if the wolf has buddies in the area. I'll notify both docs and let them know we're bringing in an injured wolf. What about you?”

“I'm fine. A couple of minor scratches. Nothing that won't heal quickly.”

Then he heard something running through the brush.

“Someone's coming.” Eric readied his gun. When he saw Darien and Tom, Darien's youngest brother, Eric smiled. “We're good,” Eric said to CJ. “Darien and Tom are here.”

“Okay, they'll relieve you. This is good news. Now we'll get him to talk.” CJ sounded darkly satisfied with Eric's efforts.

Eric was glad he'd had the chance to finally catch the bastard. CJ would take the wolf—or if he shifted, man—out of the woods, and the Silver Town sheriff and deputies could deal with him next.

CJ talked to Eric the rest of the time CJ was hiking through the woods along with Trevor, the other deputy, and Peter, the sheriff.

“Good job,” Peter said, sounding damned impressed, when they reached Eric.

“Thanks. Really only came up here to look for more clues. I didn't realize more plants would be growing or that I'd catch one of the men involved.”

Then Eric's phone rang, and he answered it. Dispatch told him about a case of mushroom poisoning. “Be right there,” he responded. To his pack members, he said, “I've got to run.” He really wished he could help question the rogue wolf, but he had to get his mind on his job.

“Talk to you when we know more,” Peter said.

Eric nodded and took off, making his way through the woods to where his truck was parked two miles away. He would continue to work his double shift, anticipating a real breakthrough on the case in a matter of hours. He hoped.

Then he sped to the campsite to see to the case of food poisoning, a kid who'd eaten mushrooms not meant for human consumption.

“He loves mushrooms,” his teary-eyed mother explained. “We didn't think he'd see any in the forest. But this one looks just like the ones we buy in the grocery store. But he started throwing up and…” She choked on her words and stopped.

The mushrooms looked so similar to the ones Eric bought in the store that he could see the mistake at once. And they could be fatal. They tasted really good too, according to people who had eaten them by mistake. He had the boy and his mom picked up and transported to the nearest hospital, where they would put the boy on an IV with a solution that would counteract the poison. Early treatment was important to prevent kidney or liver failure. Hoping the boy would be all right, Eric continued to take care of park business, but he didn't hear from Peter about what the man had revealed.

Later that day, Eric received word that a family dog had gone missing at one of the campsites while chasing after a rabbit. Eric had the lead on that case because he was closest to the location and had a great reputation for finding lost pets and people. Locating the dog was easy. But trying to get it to come to him was harder. Animals loved him, once they got over the fact that Eric smelled like a wolf.
Lupus garous
had no trouble raising animals because the animals knew their scent, associated it with food and kindness, and realized the
lupus garous
weren't a danger. But in a case like this?

He had to gain the dog's trust.

Eric kept downwind of the dog, carrying some of its favorite treats and one of the chew bones the owners had passed out to the searchers. They had only brought a couple of chew bones, but the other rangers knew to give Eric one of them because he had the best tracking rate for animals. They swore he was a bloodhound in another life. If they only knew he was a wolf in this one.

“Come, Rascal,” Eric said. If he'd had some hunter's spray, he could have sprayed some on himself and hoped that would hide his wolf scent. Eric crouched in a nonthreatening manner to get the shih tzu to come to him. He coaxed and offered the treats and the dog's bone to him, hoping he could get Rascal to come close enough to be scooped up and carried back to his campsite. The dog had run four miles from his home away from home and was a matted mess, with leaves and twigs tangled in his long, silky hair and pine needles sticking out of his beard. That indicated he'd had his nose to the ground, smelling the scents. Eric was glad he didn't have to be the one to clean him up.

The dog finally came to him, and Eric gave him a treat, then lifted the pooch into his arms and told him what a good boy he was, praising him to high heaven. He and the dog became best buddies on the way back as he fed Rascal treats and called in that he'd found the dog. The owners were ecstatic. They'd been upset with him for running off, mad at themselves for losing him, and afraid he'd be cougar food when night fell.

Eric was glad to bring Rascal back into camp safe and sound, and to see the happy owners. Hikers and other campers were snapping pictures of the dog's return to his grateful owners. So far, the day had been busy, which was how Eric liked it. Helping others was what he enjoyed most about the job. A family erecting a new tent that was giving them fits as tempers flared and darkness approached, a couple changing a tire, or campers with a truck stuck in mud were all par for the course. Keeping the peace and ensuring that troublemakers didn't ruin it for anyone else was another important mission. But what Eric loved most were rescues and saving lives.